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Speculation is running high that Gordon Brown will call a snap election this autumn, as he prepares to give a big set-piece speech to his party. A new poll out today suggests that the Northern Rock financial scare has not dented Mr Brown's fortunes, it shows that the ruling Labour party are eight points ahead of the opposition. Peter Mandelson, Britain’s EU commissioner, appeared to bury his long-running feud with Mr Brown and said—“I can’t really see the case for not having an election now.”

Angela Merkel won plaudits all round for her tough stance on human rights, by meeting the Dalai Lama, despite Chinese threats that it will damage economic ties between Germany and China. The Chinese government cancelled a meeting with a German minister yesterday for “technical reasons”.

"If France doesn't take the lead, who will?" declares Nicolas Sarkozy in a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times. During the interview, Mr Sarkozy contradicted his foreign minister by ruling out a French visit to Iran. He also laid down his terms if France is to return to NATO’s military command and defended his choice of holiday to America.

Brickbats were flying in Mr Sarkozy’s direction over the weekend. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, hit back at Mr Sarkozy's criticism of the bank’s monetary policy and said France had to “adapt faster” to benefit from the global economy. Dominique de Villepin, a former prime minister accused of smearing Mr Sarkozy in the Clearstream scandal, was also on the offensive. He attacked the French government's closeness to America and the introduction of DNA testing for new immigrants. Mr de Villepin also sneered at the Sarkozy style: “the French cannot live in a permanent swirl”.